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1-800-Flowers introduces AI concierge

1-800-Flowers is using artificial intelligence to provide gift suggestions and product recommendations. Gwyn is an AI version of a personal shopper.

Gwyn is based on Fluid Expert Personal Shopper, a software platform designed to disrupt traditional search with an automated conversation between shoppers and a digital shopping expert that guides them to the right products, according to the company.

Unlike other product recommendation engines, Gwyn can understand and then ask contextually relevant questions to guide the shopper through a personalized experience and recommend the best possible gift.

Gwyn is powered by IBM's Watson.

Here's how it works: A shopper types in a search query looking for a gift. Gwyn then asks a number of qualifying questions about the occasion, sentiment and recipient to best tailor the gift suggestion.

The program works with desktop and mobile interfaces. In March, The Northface became the first retailer to integrate Watson into its mobile app, using AI to return better search results.